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District Court (Ill.) Outlines Obligations of Debt Collector Dealing with “Disputed” Consumer Reporting under FDCPA 1692e(8)

by Scott J. Hyman |

In Wood v. Sec. Credit Servs., LLC, No. 20-cv-02369, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 135926, at *5 (N.D. Ill. July 19, 2021), Judge Norgle denied summary judgment against a debt collector due to a question of fact regarding the debt collector's knowledge of a dispute regarding the reporting of the debt.  The District Court outlined the legal standards under 15 USC… Read More

6th Cir. Issues Some Rough Justice on Art. III Standing in FDCPA Case: Plaintiff’s Anxiety to Justify Standing “”falls squarely on” his own shoulders “because he chose not to pay his debts” and “fear[ed] the consequences of his delinquency”

by Scott J. Hyman |

In Garland v. Orlans, PC, No. 20-1527, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 16107, at *7 (6th Cir. May 28, 2021), the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit found no Article III standing arising from a debt collector's dunning letters sent to the Plaintiff. The Court of Appeals found that the confusion the Plaintiff allegedly suffered from the dunning letter did… Read More

District Court (Cal.) Says Dunning Letter Adequately Disclosed Original Creditor

by Scott J. Hyman |

In Lenzini v. DCM Servs., LLC, No. 4:20-cv-07612-YGR, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 100007 (N.D. Cal. May 26, 2021), Judge Gonzalez Rogers dismissed an FDCPA claim. Notwithstanding the foregoing, Lenzini avers that the letter fails to satisfy the FDCPA where the letter (1) does not specifically use any modifying language to denote that Capitol One is the current creditor, and (2)… Read More

California Court of Appeal Holds Rosenthal Act Can Apply to a Nonjudicial Foreclosure

by Scott J. Hyman |

In Best v. Ocwen Loan Servicing (May 21, 2021) ___Cal.App.5th___ [2021 Cal. App. LEXIS 423] the court rejected arguments by a mortgage loan servicer and beneficiary that the Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Pracitices Act did not apply to non-judicial foreclosures, relying on Obduskey v. McCarthy & Holthus LLP (2019) 139 S.Ct. 1029 and Davidson v. Seterus, Inc. (2018) 21 Cal.App.5th… Read More

District Court (Cal.) Says Unanswered Calls Do Not Violate the FDCPA

by Scott J. Hyman |

In Pearson v. April Healthcare Grp., 2021 U.S.Dist.LEXIS 90010 (S.D.Cal. 2021), Judge Hayes granted summary judgment to a debt collector attempting to collect a medical debt despite the availability of medical insurance. Denial of a plaintiff's motion for partial summary judgment as to the plaintiff's FDCPA claim is appropriate when "no mention of [the] plaintiff's debt was conveyed at any… Read More

District Court (Pa.) Allows FTC to Bootstrap Unfair Debt Collection Claim Arising from Commercial Debts under the FTC Act

by Scott J. Hyman |

In FTC v. Am. Future Sys., No. 20-2266, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 83401, at *3-4 (E.D. Pa. Apr. 30, 2021), Judge Slomsky allowed the FTC to proceed on unfair debt collection claims against a debt collection agency collecting on business related education and publication debts. On May 13, 2020, the FTC initiated this action against American Future Systems, Inc. ("AFS"),… Read More

District Court (Cal.) Says Subrogation Collection Not a Debt under FDCPA

by Scott J. Hyman |

In Campbell v. Douglas Knights & Assocs., No. 21-cv-01667-JCS, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 84499, at *14-16 (N.D. Cal. May 3, 2021), Judge Spero dismissed and FDCPA because it did not arise from a "debt". Here, the letters attached to the Complaint indicates that Douglas, Knight & Associates is an insurance subrogation agent seeking to collect on behalf of an insurance… Read More

11th Cir. Says Debt Collector Violated FDCPA By Sharing Debtor’s Information with Mail Service Tasked with Sending Debt Collector’s Dunning Letters

by Scott J. Hyman |

In Hunstein v. Prefeerred Collection and Management Services, Inc., the Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit addressed the question whether a debt collector's use of a mail-service to send its dunning letters, and sharing the debtor's information required to do so, violates the FDCPA. The short story: A debt collector electronically transmitted data concerning a consumer’s debt—including his name,… Read More

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